Thursday, 16 May 2019

There is still time to catch the Art Trail in Street, running until the 18th May 2019. With large scale installations at the Grange and in the Shopping Village, plus residencies in several venues around the town.

This week Emma Housley is the artist in residence at Strode Theatre, where you can see her at work creating her beautiful contemporary abstacts full of colour and form. The workshop is open from 11am-4pm. More information and details are on the Strode Theatre website.

Debs Butterfield is in residence at The Shoe Museum on the High Street Street on Thursday 16th and Saturday 18th May making her unique organic vegan shoes.

Ron Webster will be in the foyer of the Strode Theatre on 15th -17th May from 11.00am demonstrating his amazing marquetry and parquetry skills and there is an evening of poetry, Looking Out: with Kim Ridgeon on Friday 17th May, also at Strode Theatre, details on the website.

Sculpture by Jan Niedojadlo

Sculpture by Anthony Butterfield

In the Crispin Hall, High Street you will find artwork on display by Steve Cobbin.

An example of one of trail boards to find while out and about in the town.

Saturday, 4 May 2019

With a couple of hours of spare sunshine this afternoon, I set
off to explore part of the new Art Trail in Street, Somerset which runs for the
next two weeks in venues around the town.

In all there are ten trail boards to find featuring local
artists and their work and the first location is in the beautiful setting of a
Georgian house. In the grounds of the building
are works by Garry Sharp, large, dynamic sculptures built from re-purposed roadside
litter and textural patterns worked into the grass.

Exploring these installations in the garden led me to a WILDEDGES
by Melanie Thompson, an immersive art experience in a hidden walled orchard where I wandered through the blossom trees and then up into the nearby
barn for a video installation with views out across the town and countryside
beyond.

The house itself is host to a vibrant collection of local
artists work, housed in two airy and peaceful rooms, connected by and sweeping up
a grand staircase.

Upstairs I found Jules Meriano in residence, an artist who
works in beading and mixed-media to create bespoke pieces of jewellery,
headdresses and accessories. Trained in colour and crystal therapy her unique
and gorgeous pieces are tailored to the individual to create personal works of
art. Jules is in residence on Saturday 11th and 18th of May
2019.

Saturday, 20 April 2019

The sudden heatwave this weekend has made the soft greens of Spring seem all the more vibrant. Orange tip, Brimstone, Blue and Speckled wood butterflies are emerging. This morning I went out in search of green to photograph around the garden...

Monday, 25 March 2019

I'm delighted to be exhibiting at Create:Space II in the pop-up galleryin the Old Tesco Building, Street.Come along and see a great range of local art on exhibition and for sale atUnit 6, Crispin Centre, Street, BA16 0HP.The Staging Post runs from 25th March to 4th May 2019.

Tuesday, 8 January 2019

The arrival of new seeds to plant is always a treat, especially in January. This year it is a packet of six non-dormant Monkey Puzzle seeds (Araucaria araucana). I hope they will germinate and add to the collection of small trees growing away, including the Giant Sequoias. I have also taken cuttings of the Salix babylonica 'Tortuosa' (corkscrew, tortured or my fave, dragon's claw willow). I have found the easiest way with these is simply to push bare stems in a pot in winter and watch them grow away in Spring.
I have planted my lovely Christmas gift of a Glastonbury thorn in a pot for now, until a permanent site can be found in the garden. Growing trees in containers, whether Bonsai or just small trees, is a lovely way to find a life-long connection to nature if space is limited. If you make one gardening resolution to keep this New Year, make it to grow a tree.